This invention relates generally to sailboards and particularly to an improved form of sailboard propelled by a wing structure. While the invention is primarily designed for use in sailboards, the wing structure can be mounted upon land sailing hulls and upon more conventional hulls with stayed masts such as catamarans.
In the evolution of sailboards since the invention of the Schweitzer U.S. Pat. No. RE 31,167, a number of proposals have been made for propelling a sailboard with a wing like sail. One such proposal in German patent application No. DE 3240203 published 5-3-84 employs a wing like sail which is held by the sailor while the sailor is tethered to the sailboard. In European patent application No. 0015875 published 9/16/80, a wing like sail is mounted on the top of a mast on a hull for universal pivotal motion around the top of the mast, and a similar concept is disclosed in French Pat. No. 2498554. Similar concepts have been proposed for mounting a wing like sail on sailboards in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,859 and PCT application No. W082/03053 published 9-16-82 where wing like members are connected to the top of a mast on a sailboard for universal movement with respect to the mast.
While it is very desirable to be able to employ a wing like sail on a sailboard for a number of reasons, the proposals indicated in the publications mentioned above have had serious design flaws due primarily to the fact that physical control of the wing like sail during sailing operations is so awkward and difficult that sailboards equipped with these devices are relatively uncontrollable.